The new cherry cultivar that has been given the variety denomination ‘TF 7142’, was discovered by the inventor in March of 2001, in a cultivated orchard at Zillah, Wash. ‘TF 7142’ has been shown to remain true to type over successive generations. Specifically, the mother tree of the naturally occurring sport ‘TF 7142’ is of unknown parentage, but assumed to be the ‘Bing’ cultivar. ‘TF 7142’ was discovered in an established orchard block of ‘Bing’ (not patented) and ‘Rainer’ (not patented) cherry trees, which was purchased in 1984, and is located at 3271 Roza Drive, Zillah, Wash. 98953, in Yakima County. Over the years after purchasing the orchard, occasional trees were replaced from nursery stock. In 2014, the tree ‘TF 7142’ that was planted in 2004 (on ‘Mazzard’ varietal rootstock), was noticed by the inventor to not be like the ‘Bing’ cultivar it was supposed to be. In 2016 and 2017, second generation scion wood of the apparent sport ‘TF 7142’ were grafted on ‘Gisela 6’ (commonly referred to as ‘G6’) and ‘Gisela 12’ (commonly referred to as ‘G12’) varietal rootstocks, and the subsequent fruit is identical to that of the ‘TF 7142’ mother tree.
The ‘TF 7142’ tree produces a dark sweet cherry that are unique in that the ‘TF 7142’ blooms approximately one week earlier than the ‘Bing’ cultivar, and approximately four days earlier than the ‘Chelan’ cultivar. The ‘TF 7142’ fruit mature ahead of ‘Bing’ and ‘Chelan’ and the ‘TF 7142’ fruit exhibit a round-oblong shape that is different than that of ‘Chelan’ and ‘Bing’.
Throughout several generations of asexual propagation, ‘TF 7142’ has been observed to retain its distinctive characteristics and remain true to type.